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Thursday, December 30, 2010

WELCOME TO POETRY FRIDAY

WELCOME! COME IN!

I'm honored to host the last Poetry Friday of 2010!

Today, I want to make you aware of a brand new and very special poetry book, THE WORLD IS MADE OF THOUGHTS, featuring over two hundred poems written by the children of the Denver Public Schools during the 2009-2010 school year. Poems in the book are organized by themes- home and family, school, friends, places we love wind and sky, loss, life and summer.

THE WORLD IS MADE OF THOUGHTS is a labor of love by Steve Replogle, a fourth grade teacher who devotes an incredible amount of time to soliciting poems, working with high school editors to select the poems that will be included, sorting the poems by theme, gathering artwork, and arranging for publication. This year, the book is dedicated to Debbie Milner, a literacy coordinator, hero for teachers and children, and dear friend of mine, who recently retired after more than 20 years in DPS. Here are a few sample poems:

I wish

I was a butterfly

to fly and go

to Mexico.

Karla- Kindergarten

Nothing is a picture without a frame.

Nothing is me without a friend.

Nothing is what I do.

Nothing is us without souls.

Nothing is a wife without a husband.

Nothing is a flower without petals.

Nothing is you to me.

Elida- 5th grade

Home

It's quiet.

There's fighting.

Quiet me.

Do you cry

when it's sad?

Tierra- 2nd grade

And here is one that I am going to adopt as my theme for the new year.

"Flight"

Take flight

Do something

Do something exciting

Something fun for a change

Have fun.

Go wild

Be yourself.

Katherine- Fourth Grade

You can find more information about THE WORLD IS MADE OF THOUGHTS here. This website features sample poems from the book (also from Volumes One and Two), a page about the publication process, submission forms, and lots more information that might be helpful if you wanted to do a project like this with children.

If you are interested in ordering the book, you can get it online from our local independent bookstore, The Tattered Cover.

Leave your Poetry Friday submissions in the comments, and I will round them up throughout the day.

What a lovely project to celebrate young poets. I am especially fond of "Flight" by 4th grader Katherine. Her words reveal such wisdom that I will share with my 4th grade poets next week.

My Poetry Friday post is a bit unusual, but here it is nonetheless.http://lookingforthewritewords29.blogspot.com/2010/12/reminising-reflecting-and-rocking-on.html Thank you for hosting. Happy New Year! ~Theresa

The world *is* made of thoughts. Thank you for sharing this link. Respecting the creative work of children makes a profound difference--and the building of this book is an expression of absolute respect.

Today I wonder again about the "bright light of shipwreck" that George Oppen imagined. I offer a memorial poem I wrote about an incident in the aftermath of a shipwreck.